Author: glowgettergarver

Okay.. so what are all y’all’s tips on fighting the FOMO/YOLO urge? I managed to talk myself out of going to a great little resale shop today that was having and AMAZING clearance sale. I feel weak though.

The only thing that helped me steer towards home instead of the store after work today was wanting to right a quick “hey, I did it!!” blog post tonight.

Seriously though, how do you shut down the FOMO? How do you convince yourself that it’s okay, maybe next time you can snag the deal instead?

Drop your tips and tricks in the comments below, because I have a feeling I’m going to need them. Oy vey.

In all seriousness, I’m super lonely, missing Mr. GlowGetter very much, and needing a pick me up. I figured while I was being lazy, I might as well work on using up some more of my skincare hoard and blog about it! I promise I have some blog posts coming soon about my “New Year, New Rules” situation, but wanted to do something a bit more fun today.

So. Skincare. I have had a love hate relationship with my skin, I’m usually chronically dry skin-wise (as I type my legs are itching so badly from dry skin, I’m almost flipping out…any recommendations are welcome!!) so I have been working towards nailing down a good routine the past couple years.

Before my wedding, I was completely focused on keeping my skin blemish free and glowy, and now I have switched towards wanting to keep my skin healthy, reduce redness, etc. Within the last year or so, I had to go off of my birth control pills due to many issues with weight gain, vitamin D deficiency, and quickly worsening depression, so as a result I have been dealing with many more breakouts and skin troubles.

All things considered, I have basically had to start back at square one to get my face back in order. With all the many, many products I have tried, I hadn’t successfully gotten a routine in place until about 4-5 months ago. I have finally figured out a brand that has everything I could need and works well for me. I obviously still use some random other products here and there, but overall I use almost exclusively Caudalíe products.

Read below to see what my spa-night/once weekly routine is. I will denote with an asterisk** the items I use every normal day.

Step one: Caudalíe Micellar Water**

I love how gentle this is on my skin, and it never leaves a film or weird sticky feeling. 10/10 love it. It’s a bit pricey (28$ for the full size) but I would gladly repurchase this over and over again.

Step Two: Caudalíe Foaming Cleanser**

Again, another incredibly gentle product, that I have already repurchased. One pump goes a long way, so this bottle lasts for quite some time.

Step Three: Kate Somerville Exfolikate

This one I thankfully received in a subscription box, otherwise I never would have paid full price just to try it out! I think I will be switching to a different exfoliator once this runs out though! This retails for around 80$.

Step Four: Caudalíe masks

I start with the detox mask to clear out my pores, then follow up with the moisture mask to rehydrate my skin. This combo has been working quite nicely for me. I’ll definitely be getting the full size masks once I run out of all my minis.

Step Five: Leave-on Skincare

These are the items I slather on and leave on. I start with the Caudalíe eye balm**, then the radiance serum and finish up with the overnight Renewal cream. This combo has been working wonderfully for reducing my redness and uneven skintone.

My goal is to blog every night this week, so I will talk with you all later! In the meantime, drop a comment about your favorite spa night routine. 🙂

Total cliché, I know. Before you go mumbling about how everyone hollars this phrase at the start of the new year, hear me out. Get comfy, this is going to be a long one.

Since about June 2017, I have been feeling restless. Overwhelmed. Bogged down. I could not identify the cause of these feelings. I have basically anything I could ever want in life (I mean, minus a winning lotto ticket, but I digress).

I had such strong feelings of being uninspired that I stopped posting on here, Instagram, Facebook…what was the point of spending countless hours a month on these platforms? What was it actually fulfilling in my life? I couldn’t tell.

I tried endlessly to figure out what my problem was. Was I trying too hard? Not trying hard enough? Were my hobbies and passions simply shifting?

Come late summer and the media abounding with reports of evacuations in Florida, it was like I had the last few gears click into place in my mind. If I were in their shoes, what would I do? What could I not live without? What things in my life are actually of great importance? Those thoughts led to necessities such as my pets. A few important documents. The ring I got from my mother who got it from her grandmother. The trophy from my husband’s grandfather that was won in a cattle show in the 40s.

The next question to come to mind was obvious.

WHY do I have So. Much. Stuff?

It is everywhere. Stuff for the house. Stuff in my closet. Stuff in my vanity. Skincare. Haircare. Nail polish. Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. It consumes my life, yet never feeds the important parts it.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE trying new products, reveiwing them, telling my friends and family about them. It is why I started this blog in the first place. But to what end do I continue to purchase and barely use these items? What is the end goal? An accumulation of enough things to last a lifetime? Literally throwing money away with each barely used yet expired product? It is shameful. Wasteful. Sad.

No more. That lit a spark in me that has continued into this new year, and that I am proud to continue with and get more serious about. The last several months of the year, I got rid of almost 80% of my cosmetics and skincare (sold things that were barely used, gave away other things, threw away items past their prime, etc). I went through my closet and cleared out about half of my clothes, I have already saved back over 500$ since October for a trip with my best friend at the end of this year.

So I got even more serious. If I could accomplish all that in a handful of months, what can I accomplish in a year?

New year, new RULES. I have decided that this is the year I need to become a more conscientious consumer. A more money wise individual. A less wasteful person. Develop the good habits that will last me a lifetime.

This year my husband and I have started working towards many goals such as getting healthier (yay for p90x!) and saving back more money. It seems only logical that I take the same initiative to work towards bettering other aspects of my life too.

I recently read the book The Year of Less by Cait Flanders, and it really spoke to me about the reasons why I spend money wastefully and ways I can manage dialing back and being more financially responsible. My game plan is heavily based off of the shopping ban rules she writes about in her book, so hopefully I will be able to follow suit and be successful with my own shopping ban of sorts.

I will follow up with another blog post outlining my goals for this year with being a better consumer. I am hopeful that I can use this blog for some accountability with this whole process. I still plan on writing about new skincare/cosmetics I get, as I will still be able to purchase the occasional item, I will have product empties, and I still have my Boxycharm sub (FOMO keeps me from cancelling that haha).

I’m hoping the direction this blog will start going this year is exciting for you all. If not, apologies 😂 but this is something I need to do for me.

This summer in my Ipsy bag I received this cute little lipstick crayon from a brand called trèStiQue. Now, I had never heard of this brand before, but I have been quite the lipstick aficionado as of late, so I was game to try it out. I was surprised how creamy it was at yet still looked matte on my lips. Impressed, I set it aside on my vanity for future use.

trèStiQue lip crayon in Tuscan Wine

A week or so later, I cracked open my Sephora Play box to find another little crayon shaped stick from trèStiQue. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that this wasn’t a lipstick like I received in my Ipsy, but a highlighter! YAY. I swatched it and was instantly in love with the glow, so I set it with my little trèStiQue lippy to use that afternoon.

trèStiQue highlight in Maldives Luminescent

I used the lipstick and highlight that afternoon, and then the next day, and the next, and the next…. Fast forward to today, and I am in a committed relationship with my trèStiQue crayons.

This was only the start of my collection..

OHMYGOODNESS, you guys. This brand does not get anywhere near the amount of hype that they should in my opinion. Since trying out those two little sticks, I now own the tinted face stick, the mattifying duo, brow pencil, full size lipsticks, more minis, the bronzer, blush….the list goes on. Out of love for the products and wanting to test them out, I have aquired one of everything and have yet to find a product that I am disappointed in.

These products are beautiful for travel, tossing in a bag for touch ups, and I LOVE the 2-in-1 capability this brand portrays in the sense that each full size stick has a tool placed in the bottom that perfectly pairs with the product. Sponges, brushes, blotting papers and more are hidden inside the base of the sticks, and are completely removable for cleaning or replacing. This brand screams ease of use and versatility.

Now, some of the reasons I have totally fallen for this brand (aside from the whole coolness factor hehe) are as follows:

1) The cream-gel texture. Something about the way these blend out on my skin is so appealing. The coverage of the Tint, Moisturize, and Blend Face Stick is buildable to medium, but never feels heavy or cakey. I draw a few lines on my face, blend them in, then build a bit more on the places I’m extra red like my cheeks and chin. I like to set it with a bit of powder in the morning on really hot or humid days I am good to go all day.

2). Longevity. These sticks last so long on my skin, and I get a lot of use out of each stick in general too! I have actually just hit the last dregs of my first face stick I purchased this summer, and you best believe I will be digging out every last bit.

3) Good for you ingredients. Nothing in these sticks is going to be harsh on your skin, and dry skin girls will love these something fierce because of the hydrating ingredients added in. Oily girls can still get some use out of these too, though! They are paraben free, synthetic fragrance free, cruelty free, and petrochemical free. Their ingredients are all natural, so they will definitely be good for those with sensitive skin or people wanting to stay away from synthetics in their makeup.

4) Color selection. While they could definitely expand their range to suit even more skin tones and styles, these versitile sticks fit a wife range of skintones and are perfectly suited to those who like a simple look. There are enough deeper lip and eye shades that you can definitely get some drama in there too! You can go from a soft golden eye look with a nude lip to a vampy smokey eye and bold red lip in a couple minutes. They have recently added ansecond shade of highlight, so I am hopeful they will be expanding their shade range!

Their lineup of products includes the ever popular Essential 8 set, which totes the motto of the 5 minute face. It includes the tinted face stick, bronzer or highlight stick, blush stick, concealer, eyeshadow, brow pencil, eyeliner, and lipstick. You can have an entire full face in a makeup bag (that you get for free with the set!) the size of a water bottle.

Essential 8 set

I purchased this set so I could have backups to some of my favorite products I had purchased individually, and also get some more colors of lip crayons and shadows. This set retails for 175$, which seems like a lot but the value is incredible.

As my new Holy Grail, go to, can’t live without it makeup, I have honestly stopped buying a lot of other makeup since this is now all I reach for. I will be so sad if they ever stop making these. Here’s hoping they are always around! I will be a customer for life!

If you are interested in trying these, you can go to their website trèStiQue.com or sephora.com. They offer a “try before you buy” option, and have various discount codes available through ipsy, FabFitFun, and others.

You can also save 20% when you send in a photo for a selfie shade match! This is a nice little service they provide where you can send in a well lit selfie and answer a small questionnaire and they will provide recommendations for shades in their products.

Here soon, I will be posting again to go into more detail about their specific products, shades, and how I use my crayons. Looking forward drop sharing my TrèStiQue love with you all!

Since I have been so busy lately, I am really needing to catch up on my subscription box posts! First up, Sephora Play.

This sub has a special place in my heart because it was my first subscription service and got me hooked on the idea of a monthly package full of surprise goodies. Since signing up, I now also have Boxycharm, Ipsy, FabFitFun, and will be getting my first Macy’s Beauty Box this month. And therein lies the problem…

Overall, I have come to notice that the Play boxes really don’t seem to compare to my others subs anymore. I have been seeing repeats of some products, I have received items in some boxes that were advertised as GWP online a few weeks prior (Sephora has so many codes for free gifts with 25/35$ purchase it’s insane sometimes), things like that. I’m starting to get burnt out on the same types of products over…and over..and over… But I digress. Let’s do some quick reviews and recaps. 🙂

My May box was good. My favorite product was the trèStiQue highlight stick (which I now own the full size of! 😁 Full brand blog post coming soon!). I surprisingly used up the whole Rahua hair mask and really loved it, I kind of want to buy the full size but can’t decide. The Belif product I used once and got rid of, it dried me out (shocking!), The Tatcha and NudeStix are both still on a rotation (don’t use them much, bit they are getting used).

I was apparently busy enough in June that I didn’t even take a photo of my box (or I accidentally deleted it….my bad), so I snagged this picture from the site My Subscription Addiction. I was pretty underwhelmed with my June box, not going to lie. Three items I re-sold: the FAB moisturizer, the perfume, and the IGK. The three I kept were the Ouai oil, the Porefessional (this sample was so freaking tiny I was honestly shocked. They have got to be kidding with that…) and the KVD liquid lip (the only product I really liked out of the whole box). I’ve used each of those maaaaaayyybe 1-2 times. Maybe. For all the talk Porefessional gets, I was not super impressed with it, I didn’t notice a difference between it and other primers I own. The KVD is a lovely summer color, so that was nice to receive.

And then we come to July’s box. This one was the box that basically gave me the hard push to seriously consider cancelling my subscription. I’ve gotten the rose face mask before, so I’m kind of over that. I will use the Briogeo, after all I received a full size bottle in my FabFitFun I fell in love with the formula. The lippy isn’t really for me but I’m going to give it another shot. And then there’s the Caudalíe…UGH. The Caudalíe is over HALF EMPTY. I thought it felt light and when I held it up to the light I basically saw no product. Why am I paying for practically empty containers? That really irritated me after getting the miniscule Porefessional sample in June. Second month in a row of lackluster products.

I will still be getting August’s box, as I haven’t cancelled yet, but after that I may call it quits. When I’m spending money on these boxes, I understand it’s a gamble. They are randomly selected products, and are supposed to be a surprise and introduce you to new brands and such. I just keep getting let down by this subscription. Half full products I could have gotten for free with my last online order are a sad thing to find in a box you paid money for! Samples you can basically get one or maybe two uses out of are a big of a turn off. I’m beginning to wonder if my $10 a month would be better used elsewhere. I will update you all on what I decide after I get my August box (watch, that one will be bomb and make me stick around, haha).

Recently, I was selected to try out several products by Influenster. The products were all part of the Shimmer VoxBox campaign, and I was THRILLED when I opened the box to find several items that I knew I would love.

The item that stood out the most was of course the full size (!!!!!!) Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! hair mask. I have tried small samples of this in the past and loved it, so I was estatic to get to try it out consistently. I love this item, and really feel that it helps to keep my hair in great shape.

Next up, the Impress manicure. Honestly, I hate press on nails. They have always been uncomfortable and fall off within a day or so, which basically made me assume I would hate these as well. Surprisingly, I love these so much I have continued to wear them on a regular basis! They lasted a week (would have lasted longer if I hadn’t started to pick at them) and the variety of different styles they have is awesome.

The rest of the items were pretty average for me, they didn’t stand out too much, but I still really enjoyed trying these out for free. Such a great deal! 🙂 Thank you Influenster!

Work starts again tomorrow (well, I guess it’s actually today now) and I’m so worried about not waking up to my alarm that my body has apparently decided to combat that by still not being tired.

You can’t sleep through an alarm if you never go to sleep!

5:30 am wakeup, come at me, bro.

Thank God the kids don’t come back until Tuesday. My goal of not drinking coffee all year may get ruined before it has a chance to start.

I honestly am excited to get back to school, although as per usual I have a TON of anxiety about this school year. The last one wasn’t the best, so I am determined to make this one a great one, it needs to be a palate cleanser after this past school year.

Anywho, now for the meat of my post! Early wakeups are never fun, especially for a night owl like me who struggles daily with being a morning person. The time zone I work in is also an hour ahead, so that throws my mornings for a loop as well. By about the 3rd month of school, I have dark bags under my eyes, an ever present ponytail, and will opt out of wearing real pants to work in favor of leggings at least twice a week. I have two fur babies to care for in the morning before I undoubtedly leave the house approximately 9 minutes late for work. The few times I have went without some makeup to work I was asked at least two times in each class period if I was sick.

So, how do I combat the craziness? A simple hair, skincare and makeup routine does the trick. Here is what I try to stick to:

Step one: attempt to style hair the night before. I try to throw my hair back in sme braids after I shower each night so I have some loose waves to work with in the morning. Also helps to avoid using a flat iron daily.

Step two: a great micellar water. I’ll just swipe a cotton pad over my face in the morning to cleanse and use a touch of moisturizer to cut down my usual skincare routine. I do the bulk of my skincare at night so I can wind down from the day and make sure I can sleep in those extra 5 minutes.

Step three: make products multi-purpose. I have a small caddy for makeup on my bathroom counter. I try to make sure everything in there is something I can use for more than one purpose. I use bronzer as eyeshadow. Cream blush can double as lipstick. Quick brow routine rounds things out, as I don’t have to impress students with Instagram brows (as if I have enough brow hairs to do that…hahahahah. Funny.) Simple, fuss free makeup is important. 5 minute face, because that’s usually all I have time for. I recently got very familiar with a makeup brand that is based around a 5 minute face called trèStiQue that once I start using up some other makeup I have had sitting around I will be using daily, too! All stick makeup. Love it. 🙂

Step four: hydrate. The one thing I do in the morning and all day long is make sure to drink tons of water. As a teacher, it’s hard to stay hydrated because I’m constantly talking, walking around class, and I can’t leave to pee whenever I want. But if there was one thing that helps me to avoid looking as burnt out as I feel by the time Christmas break comes, it’s hydration. One bottle by the time I get to school, and I try to make sure I have to refill after every other class period to keep on track with my daily goals.

Well, this is probably the most random post I will every have on here I hope, but it did the trick of helping me get a bit more tired! Here’s to a great school year!